42: Continuing Revelation to Latter-day Prophets

Reading Assignment for Sunday, November 24, 2013

Class Member Study Guide:  Lesson 42

Our Heritage:  Pages 117-119

Our Heritage:  Pages 125-127


THE HEAVENS ARE OPEN

President Spencer W. Kimball declared that the Church continues to be guided by revelation:

“We testify to the world that revelation continues and that the vaults and files of the Church contain these revelations which come month to month and day to day. We testify also that there is, since 1830 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, and will continue to be, so long as time shall last, a prophet, recognized of God and his people, who will continue to interpret the mind and will of the Lord. …

“Expecting the spectacular, one may not be fully alerted to the constant flow of revealed communication. I say, in the deepest of humility, but also by the power and force of a burning testimony in my soul, that from the prophet of the Restoration to the prophet of our own year, the communication line is unbroken, the authority is continuous, a light, brilliant and penetrating, continues to shine. The sound of the voice of the Lord is a continuous melody and a thunderous appeal. For nearly a century and a half there has been no interruption” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1977, 115; or Ensign, May 1977, 78).

Doctrine & Covenants 1:38

Doctrine & Covenants 68:1-4

CHURCH CORRELATION REFLECTS ONGOING REVELATION

Harold B. Lee

Underlying principles:

*Maintain pure doctrine
*Emphasize family importance
*Place all work under priesthood direction
*Establish proper relationships among Church organizations
*Create unity and order in Church
*Ensure simplicity of Church programs and materials

Areas of Emphasis:

*Importance of Family 
*Operation of Church Auxiliaries
*Preparation of Church Publications
*Home Teaching 

For Additional Reading See:

Church History in the Fulness of Times: 43 Era of Correlation & Consolidation

PUBLICATION OF LATTER-DAY SAINT EDITION OF SCRIPTURES

 

Gordon B. Hinckley remarked: 

“I look back to my own youth. Neither young men nor young women were doing much scripture reading at that time. What a marvelous change has been wrought. A new generation is arising who are familiar with the word of the Lord” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 117; or Ensign, May 1995, 87).

Elder Boyd K. Packer prophesied: 

“With the passing of years, these scriptures will produce successive generations of faithful Christians who know the Lord Jesus Christ and are disposed to obey His will. 

… The revelations will be opened to them as to no other [generation] in the history of the world. Into their hands now are placed the sticks of Joseph and of Judah.

They will develop a gospel scholarship beyond that which their forebears could achieve. They will have the testimony that Jesus is the Christ and be competent to proclaim Him and to defend Him” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1982, 75; or Ensign, Nov. 1982, 53).

We see this inspired unfolding of scriptural access in the new 2013 Scripture edition.

General Authorities Discuss New 2013 Scripture Edition --Watch & Read 
 

Insights in New 2013 Scripture Edition

GUIDING GROWTH OF CHURCH THRU ADDITIONAL SEVENTIES' QUORUMS

Doctrine & Covenants 107: 25, 34

 

25 The Seventy are also called to preach the gospel, and to be especial witnesses unto the Gentiles and in all the world—thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling.

34 The Seventy are to act in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Twelve are the traveling high council, in building up the church and regulating all the affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and then to the Jews—

Concerning the creation of additional Quorums of the Seventy, President Hinckley said: 

“With these respective quorums in place, we have established a pattern under which the Church may grow to any size with an organization of Area Presidencies and Area Authority Seventies, chosen and working across the world according to need. Now, the Lord is watching over His kingdom. He is inspiring its leadership to care for its ever growing membership” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1997, 5; or Ensign, May 1997, 6).

REVELATION: EVERY WORTHY MALE TO HOLD THE PRIESTHOOD

President Gordon B. Hinckley was at the historic meeting. He remembered:

 “There was a hallowed and sanctified atmosphere in the room. For me, it felt as if a conduit opened between the heavenly throne and the kneeling, pleading prophet of God who was joined by his Brethren. …

“Every man in that circle, by the power of the Holy Ghost, knew the same thing. …

“… Not one of us who was present on that occasion was ever quite the same after that. Nor has the Church been quite the same. …

“Tremendous, eternal consequences for millions over the earth are flowing from that manifestation. …

“… This has opened great areas of the world to the teaching of the everlasting gospel. This has made it possible that ‘every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world.’

“We have cause to rejoice and to praise the God of our salvation that we have seen this glorious day.”¹⁶

Official Declaration 2: Pages 293-294 in Doctrine & Covenants

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39: The Heart of Children Turn to Fathers

Reading Assignment for Sunday, November 3, 2013

Class Member Study Guide:  Lesson 39

Our Heritage: Pages 98-99
 
Our Heritage: Pages 101-2

Our Heritage: Pages 105-7 



SEEK YOUR ANCESTORS IN ORDER TO BESTOW UPON THEM THE PRIESTHOOD ORDINANCES

Joseph Smith received revelation before the church was organized about the importance of binding families together for eternity and necessity of the restoration in order to obtain the sealing powers of the priesthood.  We read in the Joseph Smith History:

 38 And again, he [Moroni to a young Joseph] quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
 

39 He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that without the sealing power,

 “no family ties would exist in the eternities, and indeed the family of man would have been left in eternity with ‘neither root [ancestors] nor branch [descendants].’ Inasmuch as … a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality, any failure here would have been a curse indeed, rendering the entire plan of salvation ‘utterly wasted’” (Christ and the New Covenant, 297–98).

Elijah the Prophet

Bible Dictionary on Elijah

"The Prophet Joseph Smith said that Elijah held the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood and was the last prophet to do so before the time of Jesus Christ."

Background on the Prophet Elijah

Doctrine & Covenants 2

Doctrine & Covenants 110: 13-16

 
President Wilford Woodruff: "Somebody Has Got to Redeem Them"

Our Heritage Ballard Story: Page 99

According to Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve,

 “events of that historic year [1894] established family history research and temple service as one work in the Church” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 114; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 85).

 Our Heritage Woodruff Revelation:  Page 101

 

  President Wilford Woodruff 1892--Age 85

President Woodruff was devoted to the work of redeeming the dead. 

President of the St. George Temple

*First temple where endowments for the dead were performed in this dispensation.

*Visited by spirits of many "eminent men" who had died but wanted to be redeemed.  

During his ministry:

* Members served genealogical missions

* 1894 Genealogical Society Organized

President Joseph F. Smith  Revelation Moved the Work of Redeeming the Dead Forward

Our Heritage J. F. Smith Revelation: Page 106

On 4 October 1918, just weeks before his death, he said in general conference:

“I have been undergoing a siege of very serious illness for the last five months. … I have not lived alone these five months. I have dwelt in the spirit of prayer, of supplication, of faith and of determination; and I have had my communication with the Spirit of the Lord continuously” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1918, 2).

This statement came the day after President Joseph F. Smith received the revelation that we have in Section 138 of the Doctrine & Covenants which is a record of the Savior's visit to the spirit world.  

Doctrine & Covenants 138

 

 Joseph F. Smith ca 1916--Age 78

President Gordon B. Hinkcley: "We Are Determined to Take Temples to the People"

 

 

When he became President of the Church in 1995, there were 47 temples in operation. About two and one-half years later, he made the following announcement:

“… We are determined … to take the temples to the people and afford them every opportunity for the very precious blessings that come of temple worship” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 68–69; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 49–50)

In April 1998, President Hinckley announced a goal to have 100 temples in operation by the end of the century (see Conference Report, Apr. 1998, 115; or Ensign, May 1998, 88).

Conclusion

"No people in history have ever had the opportunity to do so much for so many people as we do today."


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